NEW from the BBC’s space podcast: A revolutionary telescope and the tiny flaw that almost destroyed the dream. Hubble transformed our understanding of the universe. Maggie Aderin tells the dramatic story of one of the most ambitious scientific instruments ever built - and how it almost ended in disaster.

Already delayed by years and millions of dollars over budget, the Hubble Space Telescope is finally ready to launch and change history. It has been heralded as a window on the universe, and promises to answer the most fundamental questions ever asked: How did it all begin? Where are we going? Are we alone? But little does Nasa know that the curvature of one of its mirrors is off by the equivalent of one-fiftieth of the width of a human hair. The result? Blurry images. It will need to be repaired – in space!

Theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg and produced by Russell Emanuel, for Bleeding Fingers Music.

13 Minutes is the space podcast from the BBC World Service, telling epic space stories. It’s produced by the BBC Audio Science Unit.

Previous seasons:

Season 1: 13 Minutes to the Moon. The first Moon landing. In the final dramatic 13-minute descent to the Moon, the Apollo 11 mission came close to going badly wrong. Communication was breaking down, technology was failing and fuel was running out. This is the story of how the first Moon landing was saved. Presented by Kevin Fong.

Season 2: Apollo 13. Apollo 13 should have been the third Moon landing, but after an explosion, it almost ended in tragedy. Told by the people who flew it and saved it. Presented by Kevin Fong.

Season 3: The Space Shuttle. A sci-fi dream that changed spaceflight forever. From the boldest test flight in history to one of Nasa’s darkest days – the Challenger disaster. Space scientist Maggie Aderin tells the awe-inspiring story of the programme that brought triumph and tragedy.

Season 4: Artemis II. Artemis and the return to the Moon. As Nasa returned to the Moon for the first time in more than half a century, we followed the mission with a new episode every day. Four astronauts – on a spacecraft called Orion - looped around the Moon. They went further from Earth than any human in history. The story of Artemis II is told by space scientist Maggie Aderin, British astronaut Tim Peake, and US space journalist Kristin Fisher.

13 Minutes: Trouble with Hubble

BBC World Service